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Eternal Kiss of Darkness

(The second book in the Night Huntress World series)

Jeaniene Frost

Dedication

For my beloved nieces and nephews,

the closest I’ll come to children of my own.

Wesley, Lauren, Patrick, Michael,

Matthew, Christopher, and Amy.

May all of you find your own happily-ever-afters.

Chapter 1

Mencheres smelled blood even before he caught the earthy scent of ghouls clustered on the ground floor of the decrepit warehouse. They showed no concern when he walked inside. Another inhalation revealed it was vampire blood two of them stank of. The other four didn’t have that coppery aroma clinging to them, but from the predatory gazes they leveled on Mencheres, they intended to rectify that.

“A young vampire went missing from this area recently,” Mencheres said by way of greeting, ignoring the way the ghouls began to circle around him. They looked to be in their late teens, and from the energy in their auras, they were teens in undead years as well. “Short blond hair, tribal tattoos on his upper arms, silver piercing in his eyebrow. Goes by the name Trick,” he went on. “Have you seen him?”

“Not smart to be out so close to dawn, vampire,” the ghoul with the heaviest scent of blood drawled without answering Mencheres’s question. Then the ghoul smiled, showing he’d filed all his teeth to points.

Instead of inspiring fear, the sight annoyed Mencheres. These ghouls thought they had the advantage because of the impending dawn, but dawn would only sap the strength of a new vampire. Even with his power level cloaked to where it would feel like he was only a young vampire, if the ghouls were wise, they’d wonder at Mencheres’s lack of hesitation in confronting them.

Then again, if they were wise, they wouldn’t have killed Trick in the same area they used as a home. It had only taken Mencheres an hour to track them down. Such stupidity wasn’t only blatant disregard for vampire and ghoul law; it also endangered the secrecy of both their races. In another mood, Mencheres would have killed the shark-toothed ghoul without further conversation, then rounded up the remaining five for public punishment later. After all, Mencheres didn’t require their confession to know they’d killed Trick. Not with the scent of vampire blood on them.

The ghouls were lucky, because today, he wasn’t looking for retribution over Trick’s murder. Perhaps it was a good thing he’d lost his visions of the future, Mencheres reflected. Otherwise, if he’d foreseen that this was how he’d end his eons-old feud with the corrupt Law Guardian, Radjedef, he’d question his own sanity.

But if he hadn’t lost his visions, none of this would be necessary. Anger flashed in him. After four thousand years of seeing glimpses of the future, to suddenly have his visions gone was as crippling as it was unexpected. He’d long lamented the frustration of having visions that some people paid no heed to; but now that they were gone, for all his other powers, he couldn’t protect those he cared for. A friend’s recent, accusing words rang in Mencheres’s mind. Why now, when I need you the most, are you of no use to me?